The chamber was silent, except for the faint hum of energy lingering in the air—the dying echoes of the Pyramid’s collapse. Alastor stepped through the crumbling archway, his boots crunching on shards of shattered glyphs, the remnants of the Council’s power fading to nothing. Golden light flickered along the edges of the walls, unstable and faltering, as if the very fabric of the Pyramid knew that its end was near.

  At the far end of the chamber, Lucius Cipher waited. He stood at the apex of the room, draped in robes blacker than shadows, his hands folded behind his back. He radiated calm and control, a stark contrast to the chaos that had just unfolded. The remnants of ancient hieroglyphs swirled faintly around him—symbols of death, time, and endless rebirth—as though they lived within his very skin.

  The walls of the chamber curved in strange, unnatural ways, as if space itself bent to Lucius’s will. Reality rippled around him, a reminder that he had lived through countless loops, weaving the threads of life and death into his own personal tapestry.

  He was not just a man. He was the master of the loop, the one who had manipulated every moment, every trial, every death to lead to this final confrontation. The god of death incarnate.

  Alastor stopped a few paces from him, his grip tightening on the Eye of Ra, which still pulsed faintly with unstable energy. The Codex buzzed in his mind, whispering fragments of Lucius’s past—a history so vast that it stretched back to the earliest days of civilization, when the Pyramid’s founders first unlocked the secrets of time.

  Lucius’s lips curled into a small, knowing smile. "Welcome, Alastor," he said, his voice smooth and eerily calm. "I’ve been waiting for you."

  Alastor’s heart pounded in his chest, but he kept his expression cold, his gaze locked on Lucius. This was it—the confrontation he had been fighting toward through every death, every betrayal. Lucius Cipher, the architect of the loop, stood before him, radiating the power of a man who had lived a thousand lifetimes and died just as many.

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  Lucius had mastered the loop in ways even the Council never could. He wasn’t just immortal—he was timeless, his existence woven into the very fabric of reality. Killing him would not be easy. But it had to be done.

  Lucius gave a slow, deliberate nod, his smile widening. "You’ve come so far. You’ve died more times than you can remember. And now, here you are—at the end of the road." He spread his hands in a gesture of invitation, as if welcoming an old friend. "You’ve played the game well. Better than anyone else."

  Alastor’s jaw clenched. "It’s over, Lucius. The Pyramid is finished."

  Lucius’s eyes gleamed, ancient and filled with secrets. "Is it? Or have you simply brought yourself to the next level of the game?" He stepped forward slowly, each movement deliberate and elegant. "You destroyed the Council, broke the loop’s chains. And now... there is only one thing left to do."

  Alastor narrowed his eyes. "And what’s that?"

  Lucius smiled, dark and amused. "Kill me."

  The words hung in the air like a challenge—an invitation wrapped in inevitability. Lucius knew exactly how this would end. He had always known. This was what he had been waiting for—this confrontation, this final battle, this moment where everything unraveled.

  Alastor tightened his grip on the Eye, feeling its energy pulse against his skin. Lucius had been waiting for this moment for centuries—living, dying, and manipulating every timeline until it converged on this one final point. Every loop, every death, every trial had been leading here.

  Lucius took another step forward, his voice smooth and confident. "I gave you every opportunity to join me, Alastor. To stand at my side, to rule with me. But you chose to fight. And now, we must finish this the only way it can end."

  Alastor’s heart pounded, adrenaline rushing through his veins. This wasn’t just a fight—it was the end of the loop. The battle that would decide not just his fate, but the fate of every timeline, every life trapped within the endless cycle.

  Lucius’s smile widened. "Are you ready to see what lies beyond death, Alastor Creed?"